


In Which the Skull is Lost

by hecksalmonids



Series: Following the Demise of an Ark [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M, me deciding that i can write better than the fucks at atlus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22601707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hecksalmonids/pseuds/hecksalmonids
Summary: Sometimes, heroes aren’t lucky enough to make it out alive. A oneshot describing what would have happened if Ryuji wasn’t so lucky after Shido’s Palace.Formerly titled “Following the Demise of an Ark”.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Series: Following the Demise of an Ark [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671445
Comments: 3
Kudos: 74





	In Which the Skull is Lost

**Author's Note:**

> Name a more iconic duo than Persona 5 fanfic writers and being horribly bitter about the scene after Shido’s palace.

“He didn’t... make it out...”

The Phantom Thieves’ victory over Masayoshi Shido was the last thing on their minds as they stood shell-shocked outside the Diet Building, an empty space where the loudest of them should have stood.

Just minutes before, Ryuji Sakamoto had put his life on the line so his friends could escape the crumbling remains of Shido’s Palace. They remembered as he hung from the rung of the ship’s ladder, flashing them a grin and a thumbs-up before the ship exploded, engulfing him in flames.

How could he survive that?

* * *

“We gotta go back!” Panic overwhelmed Futaba as she immediately searched for something, anything that they could do to save their friend. But the Palace was gone, and Ryuji with it — the Oracle could not divine a way to change that. For two years, she had been helpless against the lies woven by Shido’s lackeys about her mother’s death. Now, even after she had seized her own power and defeated the very man who had ordered her mother’s death, she could do nothing to save her friend. 

_Why can I do nothing to save the people I love?_

Her tears fell.

* * *

”He was our fastest runner too!” Ann sobbed. The boy who had been her friend since middle school, who had fought earnestly by her side for months, who had been the loudest force in her life since the day they met — in a flash, he was just... gone. Never again would she spend long nights just chatting with him about whatever was on her mind, listen to his annoying voice tease her in his stupid, endearing way. 

It couldn’t have been anyone except Ryuji. Ann knew that he was the only one fast enough, strong enough, to reach the boat in time and release it. He’d saved his teammates, and now they had to learn how to live without him.

_None of us will be the same without you, Ryuji. Were we really worth your life?_

* * *

Akira was a good leader. He was brave, selfless, and he cared for his teammates. He did not let himself grieve, not when his friends most needed someone to keep them going. He wouldn’t face his sorrow in front of them.

“Let’s go to Leblanc.” He spoke gently, but firmly, and they quietly obliged. He paid their fares and led them to the back-alley café. He could tell they were thankful to have the guidance right now, when their shock was at its strongest.

“Ah, you’re back, Akira.” There weren’t many customers in Leblanc this late in the night, so Sojiro could spare the time to talk to them. “Did something happen? You all seem much more melancholy than usual.”

”Ryuji... he’s...” Ann couldn’t find the strength to continue.

Sojiro finally noticed the missing face in the group. Rage flickered over his face for a moment, so quickly that only Akira had noticed. His expression hardened. “Take the booth. I’ll close up shop and make some curry. It’s on the house, so just rest.”

Akira was a good liar, but he could never fool himself. He started on brewing coffee for his friends, knowing that it would be futile to say it was a service to his friends. He was doing whatever he could to keep himself from facing Ryuji’s death. The booth was silent as he and Sojiro served them the coffee and curry. None of them could find the willpower to speak — how could they, with the most energetic of them gone? 

Within the safety of Café Leblanc and the quiet company of their teammates, the Phantom Thieves grieved for their Skull.

* * *

One by one, the Thieves filtered out of Leblanc. Akira knew they needed space to make their own peace with Ryuji’s death. 

“I’m going to the house, Sojiro.” Futaba’s voice sounded much more faint than usual. She stopped, hesitant, at the door and quickly ran back to give him a hug.

”Futaba...” Sojiro returned her hug, holding her tight. She let go after a few seconds, opening the door to Leblanc.

”I’ll be home in a few minutes, Futaba. I’ll just finish closing up.” She nodded her head slightly and ran out of the door. Morgana followed her out, likely to make sure she got home safe.

Akira took off his apron and picked up one of the dishes in the sink to clean it. “I’ll close up today. You can go home to Futaba — she shouldn’t be alone right now.” He could only keep himself distracted for so long before it tore him apart.

”You may be the leader of the Phantom Thieves, but I’m the only Boss in this café.” Sojiro crossed his arms, eyeing the boy.

He tried for a laugh. “Consider it payment for today’s curry.”

”Stop deflecting.” Akira froze.

“Did you really expect me to believe that this didn’t affect you at all?” Sojiro picked up the plate Akira was washing and continued his job. “Especially me, of all people. Didn’t I tell you about me and Wakaba?”

For all his escapades as Joker, he had never been caught this far off guard. “I didn’t... it wasn’t like-“

Sojiro cut him off. “Don’t give me that. I saw the way you acted every time he came to visit. I saw how happy you were every time he texted you during breakfast. Whether you knew it or not, you loved him, Akira. Anyone could see it.” He sighed. “When Wakaba died... I didn’t give myself any time to deal with it. I had to keep running Leblanc, and I had to stay strong for Futaba. But grief eats away at you, bit by bit, until you can’t ignore it and you’re reaching out for anything at all to hold on to — and there won’t be anything if you’re alone.”

Akira opened his mouth to respond, but Sojiro was too quick. “Take off your glasses.” He obliged, folding them neatly and placing them on the counter before looking back at Sojiro.

”Look me in the eyes and tell me that this is really all you feel about his death. Can you do that, kid?”

Akira couldn’t even lift his head to look at him. _Sojiro, why..._

Sojiro clearly expected the response, letting out a humorless chuckle. “Right now, your teammates don’t need their leader. And I will _not_ leave you to suffer alone.”

Oh, how badly Akira wanted to deny everything, shove his grief even deeper inside himself until it would never come out. But he knew, deep down, that Sojiro had already broken his mask.

He thought about the rage he felt at Ryuji’s abuse at the hands of Kamoshida’s guards, awakening him to Arsene. He thought about how Ryuji awoke to Captain Kidd and gained the power to fight back against the perverted teacher. He thought about how Ryuji had found his own way to fit into the world, breaking from the shackles of Kamoshida’s abuse. 

He thought about how badly he wanted to stay by Ryuji’s side as he carved out his own future. He thought about how he would go through a hundred interrogation rooms if it meant Ryuji was safe, and he knew then that Sojiro was right about everything. He loved Ryuji, he always had, and now he was gone.

Sojiro held him as he broke down, sobbing, pleading, crying out for the boy he would never see again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> None of the chapters will take place in the same universe, so don’t worry — Ryuji will be alive in the next one!  
> Also, no beta. We die like Ryuji.

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned for the next fic in this series, where Ryuji is alive and gets the love he deserves!


End file.
